Anniversary of Bunker Hill Battle

Post by Tony Malanowski

It was 235 years ago this morning, that the beseiged British troops in Boston stared up at the hills overlooking the city and saw the rough battlements that had been swiftly constructed during the previous night by the Colonial Patriots. General Thomas Gage, the Military Governor of Boston, now had a crises on his hands. He knew that the Americans had to be driven from those hills, and he knew that every moment he waited allowed more men and supplies to arrive and organize. But it would take hours to muster his own troops and transport them in boats across the harbor, and then form them into battle lines to attack the American position. And since tensions in the Colonies had been rising for months, and "the shot heard 'round the world" had been fired just under two months previous on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord, did "Tommy" Gage really want to be the one to make a fateful decision and cause "resistance" to change into "Revolution"?

When we decided to launch our Historical DocuDrama series AMERICA: HER PEOPLE, HER STORIES, we chose The Battle of Bunker Hill as our Premier Installment because it was the first major military engagement of our American War for Independence. Before the Colonials made their stand against the full might of the British Army, there was bitterness and resentment, along with skirmishes and confrontations. But it all came to a boil on that blisteringly hot June day when the British needed three charges to dislodge the stubborn Americans from Breed's Hill (where most of the battle was fought), and Bunker Hill. And what was supposed to be an easy victory for the British against "rebel farmers" turned into a costly excercise for the King's Soldiers, with the Colonials retreating only when they ran out of water and ammunition. The ravaged "Redcoats" were stunned by the Americans dogged determination and valor, and British General William Howe, the Commander on the Field, would remember the fear he experienced when he later said, "There was a moment we have never felt before"!

This battle gave the Colonials their first sense that achieving victory over the better trained and equipped British forces was possible. Their resolve was an example of what we today refer to as "American Exceptionalism", the Idea that the United States of America is a special country, which was significantly Blessed by God, and destined for Greatness. Men like Israel Putnam, William Prescott, John Stark, Richard Gridley, Dr. Joseph Warren, and Peter Salem would become heroes - defying the odds, standing firm in their Faith and not firing until they could "see the whites of their eyes"! Today, more than ever, we need to remember their bravery and sacrifice, and we need to stand up for our Country and our Values with the same kind of "Public Virtue" that was shown by the Heroes of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.